The BBC interviewer just spoiled Anderson's evening - he didn't appear to know that his next opponent was going to be Federer until she asked him about his thoughts on that.
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Only in terms of seedings. Kerber is currently number 10 in the world rankings. (Pedantry alert!)Originally posted by Janik View PostComment
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All the Brits are out of Wimbledon, right? Well yes, in the Singles... but the Doubles is actually going notably well for the local competitors.
The headline competition would be the Men's Doubles, where three of the eight pairs into the QFs include a Brit. Two of them were seeded, and #5 Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares in particular being through is no great shock. They play #13 Klaasen/Venus today, and on Centre to boot. #15 Dom Inglot/Franko Skugor are also through to the last eight, which represents Inglot's best Wimbledon run (he has been in QFs before in Melbourne and New York and also a Semi in the Big Apple). Their opponents today (on Court 1) are Haase/Lindstedt, who are not seeded but have a lot of doubles pedigree.
The third pair through is the surprise, wild cards Salisbury/Neilsen. Completely new ground for Joe Salisbury, who had only played and lost one Slam level match prior to this tournament (here, last year), not so for Frederik Neilsen who is a former Wimbledon Men's Doubles champion. As part of a wild carded pair. With a Brit. Their QF is on Court 2 against #14 McLachlan/Struff. Lightening can't strike twice, can it?
Eliminated British pairs include Clarke/Norrie who lost what is approximately an eight-setter to Averalo/Podlipnik-Castillo in R1 (20-22 in the fifth!), Bambridge/O'Mara who coped the #2 seeds Kubot/Melo in R1, L.Broady/Clayton who won a round but then had to retire hurt when trailing by two sets to Gonzalez/Jarry in R2 and the Skupskis (the only others apart from Murray and Inglot who got in by right) who made R3, beating #9 seeds Qureshi/Rojer in R2 but then losing to Murray/Soares.
One notable non-British pair also in the QFs are the American team of #7 Bryan/Sock. That is Mike Bryan, as Bob is currently out injured having hurt is hip during the clay court season. The Bryan’s had played 76 consecutive slams as a pair up until Bob couldn’t take the court in Paris (Mike paired with Sam Querrey for Roland Garros but they lost to the Skupski brothers in R1 of that, which was rather pouring salt in the wound!)
As many British pairs remain in the Mixed, i.e. three, though that is at a round earlier stage. Jamie Murray is the defending champion of this, having won it with Martina Hingis last year. Murray obviously has cache amongst the Women’s players as he has picked up another significant performer to accompany his defence, Victoria Azarenka (Vika is actually a very handy doubles player, a former Mixed Olympic gold medallist, Mixed Slam champ and Women’s Slam finalist). Azarenka/Murray are through to R3 after a win over #2 seeds Groenefeld/Farah in R2. They play #12 Larsson/Middelkoop there.
Murray is a former champion (2007 w/ Jankovic, which remains Jelena’s only Slam title) as well as the defending champion. He isn’t the only Brit still in the draw with a Wimbledon Mixed crown on their cv though, as Heather Watson and Henri Kontinen, champions in 2016 and runners-up to Hingis/Murray last year, are on the march again. Watson/Kontinen are seeded #16, which gave them a R1 bye. Their R2 match was tight, but won 7-5 in the third which sets up a difficult looking R3 meeting with #3 L.Chan/Dodig (the champions in Paris a few weeks ago).
As with the Men’s, the final pair still playing are wild cards who may be wide-eyed to be so deep into the draw, in this case Harriet Dart and Jay Clarke. They have knocked out some significant doubles players already, particularly #13 Peschke/Mirnyi in R2 but now have to play #1 seeds Dabrowski/Pavic, whose results so far this year are Aussie Open Champions and French Open runners-up. Eep!
Lots of others have played, a fair few without the need for wild cards. Dunne/Salisbury (WC) lost to N.Broady/N.Skupski (in by right) in R1, who in turn lost to Larsson/Middelkoop in R2. Boulter/Bambridge (WC) lost in two breakers to An.Rodionova/Vasilevski in R1, whilst Inglot/Stosur (WC, late entry?) lost to a superstar pairing in Stephens/Sock in the opener. The Americans are still going in R3 btw, where they will play #2 Makarova/Soares. Smith/K.Skupski (no WC needed) won a round but then lost to #11 Melichar/Peya in R2. Nicole Melichar was of course Anna Smith’s partner in her only WTA title win to date...
The Women’s Doubles is up to the QFs like the Men’s, and this also has British representation, though only one pair. It’s a combination with some form to them this year, Tatjana Maria and Heather Watson having won the WTA level title in Acapulco a few months ago. Watson/Maria’s run to the QFs includes a win over #11 Atawo/Groenefeld, and it has set them up to face Czech pair #3 Krejcikova/Siniakova, who won the French Open last month. Well, that will be a test, then, won’t it?
Atawo/Groenefeld beat the only other British-including pair that qualified by right, Smith/Knoll, in R1. Also out in the opener were wild cards Boulter/Swan and N.Broady/Muhammad, who lost to #14 Hradecka/Hsieh and McHale/Ostapenko respectively. One wild carded pair, Dart/Dunne, did win a match but then ran in to #2 Sestini Hlavackova/Strycova in R2 and were beaten. The Czechs subsequently lost to Mattek-Sands/Safarova, who are unseeded due to Bethanie’s near year out with injury following the horrible incident in the singles here last year, but given their past (they were going for holding all four Slam Doubles titles at once when Mattek-Sands knee gave out) they might be the favourites for the Doubles title, which would complete a career Grand Slam. It is also their first tournament back in tandem since the injury. Their favouritism is helped by the injury-enforced absence of Elena Vesnina (Makarova was partnered by Zvonereva, but they are already out).
Oh and Mattek-Sands hair this year is a colour she is calling Neon Strawberry Blonde. Well, why not?Last edited by Janik; 10-07-2018, 10:09.Comment
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Women’s Quarter-Finals
Dominika Cibulkova Svk vs Jelena Ostapenko Lat [12]
Cibulkova and Ostapenko are two people with a strong sense of self-belief, which on the court manifests itself as two feisty characters who fight their corner tooth-and-nail. This can result in some hit-and-miss play, which has marked both players careers to date, but when either is on they are very, very good. Just see the history, a Slam title for Jelena on what is surely not her best surface, a final for Cibulkova and also victory at the Tour Finals in 2016.
On game style, the Latvian is more aggressive, ultra-aggressive in fact whereas Cibulkova is more of a counter-puncher, a superb defender who can also come forward when the situation presents itself. This has resulted in Cibulkova winning both their previous encounters, one of them on grass but such is Ostapenko’s character that this won’t faze her. She will also be delighted with a big stage.
I think it will be very close, and if that is so then Domi’s greater experience will come into play as she will not leak unforced errors at critical times by chasing big winners.
Cibulkova in three.
Daria Kasatkina Rus [14] vs Angelique Kerber Ger [11]
Kasatkina and Kerber last met just two weeks ago on the grass of Eastbourne. That match was essentially a draw, requiring a final set tie-break to separate the players (set two was also a breaker). Kerber won that day, which left the overall h2h at 3-3, all the matches coming within the last two years. This gives an indication how little there is between the two.
However I tend to favour Kerber’s game of the two on grass. Her ability to hit shots on the crouch and her superb speed and defensive skills when rushed are both exceptional qualities for playing on this surface. Wimbledon has generally been good to her in even-numbered years as well, this QF following a run to the same stage in ’14, a Semi in ’12 and being the runner-up two years ago.
Kasatkina’s age (she has only recently turned 21) means she cannot have the same depth of experience, but she also lacks any similar peaks on a grass court; all her best results have come on clay or hard previously with R3 being the previous (surpassed) best at SW19. And her game gives an indication of why, Kasatkina having quite a big wind-up on her shots.
There is also the question of pressure – this is just a second Slam QF for the young Russian compared to a 10th for the German, and temperament – Kerber tends to take things in her stride whilst Kasatkina can still get excessively down on herself if situations don’t pan out how she wants. The wins over Kerber, particularly one at the start of 2017 when Angie held the no.1 ranking, will be important crutches but for me the combination of a grass court game and the mental aspects men I favour Angie for this.
Kerber in two.
Kiki Bertens Ned [20] vs Julia Goerges Ger [13]
Both Bertens and Goerges are going to look back on this Wimbledon as a success. It is likely to be about the best either of them ever achieves at SW19. Each is more renowned for their clay court ability, particular Bertens who has made 7 WTA level finals on dirt and zero on other surfaces.
However one can’t overlook the victories Bertens has managed in previous rounds against exceptional players on this surface; beating Venus Williams and Karolina Pliskova in back-to-back rounds at Wimbledon is some achievement. Particularly when you had a losing record at the venue (3-5) prior to this run…
Goerges wins are slightly less stellar, but still impressive as Puig, Lapko, Strycova and Vekic is a tough draw to get on grass. Three of those are also accomplished on the surface, and each has been beaten, with the 10-8 against Strycova in R3 the standout victory of an impressive bunch. Goerges also overcame significant venue demons, given that she arrived this year having been knocked out in R1 five consecutive times!
So this is big opportunity for each player, both in terms of how often they are likely to have it and also the beatability of the Woman on the other side of the net. Which adds extra pressure on top of it being just a second Slam QF for Kiki and a first for Julia. Both have shown themselves susceptible to that in the past, which makes it tough to predict who will be the freest to play.
Past record tends to favour Bertens, particularly the 2&1 thrashing she handed Goerges in the final of Charleston earlier this year (one of only two prior meetings, both won by the Dutch woman), but I feel game style goes more towards Goerges. Both will be on the baseline, but the German has a bigger serve and a more aggressive approach off the ground. If her big forehand fires, she can hit through Bertens and that will be enough.
Goerges in three.
Serena Williams USA] [25] [PR] vs Camila Giorgi Ita
Serena was trying to talk up Evgenia Rodina before her 4th Round match, saying, in the context of all the seeds removed, that players are not intimidated in playing the top girls any more and that everyone comes out swinging. That wasn’t true and isn’t true, Serena herself still has an intimidation factor that she has worked very hard on developing. Rodina, as Tomova and Rus in the first two rounds, was beaten before she stepped on court.
However that free-swinging, it doesn’t matter to me who is on the other side of the net I’m going for it approach absolutely applies to Camila Giorgi. Her gameplan will be the same as it always is, try and outhit her opponent. If that opponent is Serena, still go for it. It hasn’t worked in the past, Serena leads the h2h 3-0, each of them in straight sets, but caused some problems as recent meetings have included 7-5s and tie-breaks. It actually most be uncomfortable for Serena to play the Italian, because for once the match is not on her own racquet.
Obviously the gap in experience is more of a chasm. Serena has, well, you know what Serena has – the joint most Slams won ever. Giorgi by contrast is playing in her first ever QF. However I think that facing Serena in that probably helps in an odd way, as like another Italian before her (Vinci in New York) it takes a lot of the pressure off. There is no expectation that Giorgi will triumph here, so she is free to swing which is her only way to play anyway.
The elephant in Serena’s corner is fitness, though that has seemed solid so far so I think we discount it. That leaves gameplay, and whilst I think Giorgi will put up a very stern fight and give Serena her most challenging game to date, I go for her determination and greater reliability playing huge shots to tip the balance her way in the end. Giorgi to win the first set and get people talking but in the end…
Serena in three.Comment
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The matches are underway, btw. Including the finish of Simon-Del Potro, which Delpo lead by two sets to one when light curtailed things yesterday.Comment
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So what do we have? Well Delpo a fourth set tie-break to beat Simon 7-61 7-65 5-7 7-65. Unlucky Gillou.
And as for the Women, results so far are Ostapenko in two (oops) and Kerber in two (better). Both close, 7-5 6-4 to Ostapenko, 6-3 7-5 for Kerber. The other QFs are on track for my predicted three set wins for Goerges and Serena, i.e. they are both a set down! I did at least suggest Giorgi's one set would be the first...
In the one Men's Doubles match with British involvement underway so far Salisbury/Nielsen are a set up.Comment
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Serena to serve for her match at 5-4 in the third, Goerges a break up in the decider of hers at 4-1.Comment
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Serena is through to the Semis. Goerges leads 5-1 and is about to serve for the right (privilege, misfortune?) of being on the other side of the net.Comment
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Goerges completes the job.
After all the seeds falling, the QF line-up was decent, and the SF line-up is very much been there, done that players. Well, three of them. Julia Goerges getting through is pretty left-field.Comment
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the SF line-up is very much been there, done that players.
Not quite as much as the mens QF line-up, which would have had a "been there done that" look half a decade ago.Comment
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Hah, yes, only 3 of the 8 under 30, and the youngest 27 and a half. So much for the young guns...Comment
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Doubles results today:-
Men's
Klaasen/Venus [13] bt Murray/Soares [5] 3-2 (Murray/Soares had led by two sets to one)
Salisbury/Nielsen [WC] bt McLachlan/Struff [14] 3-1 (!)
Inglot/Skugor [15] bt Haase/Lindstedt 3-1
Bryan/Sock [7] bt Sharan/Sitak 3-1
Mixed - selected
Dart/Clarke [WC] bt Dabrowski/Venus [1] 2-0 (!)
L.Chan/Dodig [3] bt Watson/Kontinen [16] 2-0Comment
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Venus drained from his men's match, maybe?Comment
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It was Dabrowski/Pavic, not Venus, so no issues of fatigue. Someone on commentary suggested Clarke should become a doubles specialist, which is a bit premature for a player likely to break the singles top 200 in his teens.Comment
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Err, yeah, Pavic. I bloody knew that as well, so no idea how I made that error.
Men’s Quarter-Finals
Roger Federer Sui [1] vs Kevin Anderson RSA [8]
Prior to his last 16 match, Kevin Anderson had never beaten Gael Monfils, the Frenchman having won 5/5 with Anderson only claiming a single set in those matches. Yet he beat Monfils to reach this match against Roger Federer... who Anderson has a 0/4 record against without even that token set to his name this time!
Kevin broke one of those streaks, so he can break two, right? Well, yeees, maybe, I guess. I mean he has a huge serve and his game otherwise has developed substantially in the past two or three years. He is very solid off the ground, moves pretty well in general and exceptional well for a man of his height and has the confidence of big wins and deep Slam runs. He hasn’t managed to sustain a top 10 spot for the majority of the past few years just on serving.
However that serve is still the biggest weapon he has, and it has to work very, very well if he is to have a chance. And that is because returning is not his forte, and Federer’s own serve has been purring – the Swiss is yet to be broken in the championships, last losing a service game in the 2017 Semi.
One intriguing thing about Anderson’s approach against Le Monf was the amount of times he approached the net, which was upwards of 60 by the end. It was pretty old school grass court Tennis in that respect, but whether repeating it would be a wise strategy against Federer is questionable, as the Swiss would likely pick off the passes. However Anderson does need to do something like that, he needs to rush Federer and make him shank, which can happen. So attack, attack, attack, go for his chances and hope.
Overall I think all runs must end, and the time has come for Federer to be challenged. So I’m tipping him to lose his serve somewhere along the line, and possibly also a set on a breaker as Anderson is good enough to stick with him, but no more than that.
Federer in four.
Milos Raonic Can [13] vs John Isner USA [9]
Isner against Raonic eh? That is going to be a serve-fest, isn’t it? A match of maybe one of two breaks of serve in total and a number of sets with none at all being decided by a tie-break. Well yes, probably. B oth have played 14 sets in these Championships, with each of them going to a break five times, Raonic winning 4/5 and Isner 3/5. Their past record also says stalemate, with 7 of the 9 previous sets they have played against each other culminating in tie-breaks, including all of the last five.
Isner actually leads that h2h 3-1, but given how little decides a breaker set that is possibly more luck than judgement. One can also figure in that their last meeting was in 2016, and that was the first time Raonic won, which is around the point the Milos was adding a little more to his game than simply North American tall bloke biff. He now comes to the net more often, after his spell with McEnroe and appears to have a greater appreciation of when to go big and when to eliminate the errors.
There is also another factor on the Canadians side, which is age and experience deep in to Slams. Both of these favour Milos as he has seven Slam QFs before (including three at Wimbledon) and won three of them. This all compares favourably to Isner, who is only now matching his US Open QF run of 2011. Factor in Big John’s relatively advanced age, 33, and he must feel like this is a vital match and opportunity, one that he has been working for all his career and cannot blow. That sort of must-win, defeat is unthinkable situation can lead to very poor performance as it all gets too much and nerves freeze everything up. Isner might also experience that as well as whoever else I may be talking about...
Serve well, get as many returns back as possible, and stay loose on whatever few break point chances or tie-break opportunities exist is the formula for both Men. Raonic ought to execute that better, but I’ll go with them sharing at least two breakers along the way.
Raonic in five.
Novak Djokovic Srb [12] vs Kei Nishikori Jpn [24]
These two are rather understated by their respective seedings, as Djokovic so far has clearly played better than no.12, though whether it’s quite of the standard of the all-conquering Djoker is arguably, whilst Nishikori has been operating at very close to the level that he did when he was a top 5 player. It should make for a fascinating match therefore.
The most notable match they have played against each other remains the 2014 US Open Semi-Final, which Nishikori, despite presumably being close to exhausted, famously won in four. However Djokovic would argue that focusing on that is rather misleading as he has won 12 in a row against Kei since then, including a comfortable Aussie Open QF and two absolute thrashing in World Tour finals (both 1&1 in ’15 and ’16 respectively). Nole has shown himself to be the better player.
That said, the pair haven’t met that often over the past two seasons as injuries and loss of form have kept both from the latter rounds where they used to run into each other. Having clashed six times in 2016, they didn’t play at all last year (they were meant to once in Madrid, but Nishikori didn’t take to the court due to injury) and the two meetings this season have been rather closer than the previous Djokovic dominance.
A look at the game styles gives a hint for the Serbs hold on this match-up, as they play similarly but Djokovic just does it that bit better. Both serve decently, but it’s their defence, returning and athleticism that marks them out as players. Nishikori needs to find that to an extreme degree today if he is to reverse the trend. I don’t think he can.
Djokovic in three.
Juan Martin del Potro Arg [5] vs Rafael Nadal Esp [2]
Should I just exhume the SF prediction for Delpo against Rafa in Paris a month ago? In some ways yes, the same history holds between the two players though that ultimately straightforward win for Nadal adds another little dent to Juan Martin’s confidence, but in others no because that was clay and this is grass and that tips the balance slightly less in the Spaniard’s favour.
Del Potro’s advantage on the surface are that his huge serve and flat hitting can go through anybody, even a player as swift on the defence as Rafa. However Delpo does need to believe in his shots and avoid too much repetition in his patterns – he is often loathe to put his backhand down the line and often slices it cross, which seems a very bad idea against Rafa as that feeds the most dangerous forehand around.
Delpo’s own forehand is pretty fearsome, in a rather different way, and he needs to get it into play early in the rallies to dictate points. He can’t possibly hope to defend his way to victory. He should also probably try a few sneak approaches to the net, not because it’s a comfortable territory for him but because his wingspan will get Nadal thinking at least a little on the trajectory of his groundstrokes.
As for Rafa, the key to him is serving well and also how well he hits his own backhand down the line, which could be a big weapon as it pushes Delpo into the corner of the court he is clearly least comfortable in. All the evidence so far suggest that Nadal is raising his game at the right moments, so will find the first serves he needs and the rallying shots to work Delpo around and over.
Nadal in three.Comment
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Currently on the red button in the juniors you can watch Emma Raducanu vs Joanne Garland. One born in the UK with a British parent and living in Stevenage but representing Taiwan, whereas the other was born in Canada, doesn't have a British parent but representing GB. It's a very high quality match.Comment
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I see Raducanu won.
Federer broke Anderson in the opening game of the match, and raced through set one 6-2. However the pair have exchanged breaks in set two... which means Fed's unbroken streak is over. Meanwhile over on Centre* Djokovic is a set up on Nishikori.
* - scheduling Federer for #1 raised a few eyebrows, but given the name recognition of the opponents I don't think it was wrong. Clearly Nadal-Delpo had to be on Centre and Djokovic-Nishikori just about trumps Federer-Anderson. Also there is fairness across the tournament as Nole was clearly unhappy about two straight assignments of the third match Court #1, each of which started late in the day due to the prior matches on the day being extended affairs.Comment
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I think Raducanu is the real deal, good serve, good movement, good weight of shot.
Nishikori leads 4-1 in the second set, though only with a single break.Comment
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Cracking match this (Nish-Djok).
Either way, I think.Comment
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Doesn't help when Nishikori blows a break lead early in a must win set, though.
Anderson is currently serving for set three on Court 1, but is 0-40 down. He is already two sets behind so also really needs this.Last edited by Janik; 11-07-2018, 14:24.Comment
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Five points in a row, and Anderson does have a set back. Still a way to go, but it's a start...Comment
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I was thinking about the semis, and realised that I had no idea who were in the quarters. Hoped that delPotro is still in, but bugger, he is playing Nadal.
Federer is whatever, but Raonic against Isner?
So, Nadal Federer final. Except that Nadal will not breeze, and Roger probably will, the cnut.Comment
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I wouldn't be so sure of that, Geron. Anderson has broken Federer again and is about to serve for the fourth set. Federer had a match point in set three, but this one is getting away from him at the moment.Comment
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I think ESPN don't have the rights for Federer... they are not breaking in...Comment
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Well, I'll have to keep you up-to-date then. It's two sets all, Anderson saving a break point along the way.Comment
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